Meet Autumn Fedo | Photographer & Traveler

We had the good fortune of connecting with Autumn Fedo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Autumn, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I had been in the military working at NSA sites and while I enjoyed the work, I also felt that it was so consequential working with security and intelligence concerns everyday. And of course, spending my days inside an office is not exactly where my heart wanted to be. I knew that my next step in life would be more free, more days outside and more time creating.

My military service was over right before Covid started, so I wasn’t exactly jumping to get the typical job afterwords. In this age of Covid, there has been a shift towards people deciding which jobs are actually worth occupying most of their time and being more selective with quality of life options.

Through reading many job postings, sending in applications and doing interviews, I realized that none of them were how I wanted to settle with spending my time anymore. My whole life I’ve done different artistic pursuits and odd creative jobs on the side but in a society that doesn’t always respect artists I thought it would be a dead end career-wise. But with this post-Covid recession helping people realize what they want in life, more people have moved towards creative pursuits from freelance van lifers to full-time influencers and all content creators in between. And I can happily say that I am one of those people. To look at the crazy world we live in and say “Why not now?” and “What do I have to lose?”. Either it doesn’t work out and I move on, or it works out stupendously and I spend my life creating, making art that makes people happy, and following the truest path of my authentic self being able to look back on work that I’m genuinely proud of.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I would like my brand Wild Hearts to be known for just that, showcasing the wild and natural parts of people and the planet. The majority of my shooting is outside and am working on several projects illustrating elements of the natural world imagined as portraits.

Throughout my studies in environmental science I deepened my passion for the planet as well as imagined ways to exhibit these passions in art. I have also given myself the unique challenge of trying to produce my work in the most eco-friendly way possible. I use mostly thrifted materials so instead of seeing an idea and simply buying the items to recreate it, I have to use a little bit of ingenuity to create my vision without using single use items or using what I already have. And a percentage of my proceeds will go towards various sustainable missions. Although I am a new business and am just getting started, I have mountains of ideas and I can’t wait to show you all what I will create!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m currently based in Monterey, California and spend my days exploring the local area from Big Sur to San Francisco. Any trip to this area needs to start with a drive down Highway 1 after you grab coffee at Plumes or Alta in Monterey, or pastries at the Camel Bakery. The 1 will give you amazing views from the Sand City dunes, Asilomar rocks, Point Lobos trails and cypress trees, all the way down over the famous Bixby Creek Bridge to Pfeiffer Beach and McWay Falls, after which you can stop at Fernwood for a drink on their back patio in the woods.

If you want to go shopping, you can’t miss Carmel’s Ocean Ave with some of the cutest shops and candies or Alvarado St in Monterey with an obligatory stop at Revival Ice Cream for a scoop of Bee’s Knees, you won’t regret it!

In this area you can hike on all different types of terrain from the woods in Jack’s Peak, the grassy fields at the Fort Ord National Monument, or up the sand dunes at the Marina State Beach. This should of course be followed up with tacos from Papa Chevos!

During a day in Santa Cruz you’ll be surprised at just how much there is to do without ever going to their historic boardwalk. Between the stunning hikes at Natural Bridges State Park and Wilder Ranch State park you can see some of the most beautiful displays of coastal rocks, arches, and pillars and even some sunbathing sea lions. At the Santa Cruz surfing museum where you can visit the tiniest museum snuggled within a lighthouse, but also watch the surfers hop the railings and climb down to catch waves right off the cliffside. Stroll down Pacific Ave to check out some of the coolest local shops and take your pick from the dozens of restaurants.

And so many more spots in between! Not to mention San Francisco all of its own. Whatever you do on a trip to this area, make sure to budget some time to relax at a beach with your favorite drink to watch a one of a kind west coast sunset.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Somebody once asked me a question about the world needing hobby photographers and I was shocked because I thought it was obviously how badly the world needed hobby photographers. Without people starting photography as a hobby, where would we get the thousands of hours of practice we need to be amazing professional photographers? So after years, you could count even longer than a decade ago to when I was making my friends pose for me in high school, I’d thank every person along the way whose ever posed for me or taken my picture.

You don’t realize in the moment how all the small acceptances and openings to grow can propel you forward into a passion and I’ve had a lot of those moments and people cheering me on. My biggest fan however is my husband, who has always wanted me to pursue a creative career and cheers me on every day. Not to mention being a great “Instagram Husband” but helping me with the business and being my assistant when I need it, and in the moments when I doubt myself, I have an incontrovertible hype man.

Lastly, in this beautiful age of social media I have been able to find so many groups and mentors who are excited to share with me and help me grow. There are communities of creators online that have welcomed me and allowed me to practice and collaborate with them so a huge shout out to everyone in these communities encouraging others to create and not gatekeeping artists.

Website: http://wildheartsbyautumn.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildhearts_photography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wild.Hearts.Photography.byA

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-hearts-photography-seaside

Other: Link tree for any other info, as well as my The Traveling Treehugger travel content. https://linktr.ee/AutumnAdele

Image Credits
All photos taken by me except for the first picture (sunset, red rocks, hiking sticks), taken by my husband James Fedo, and the last one of me (in front of pink plumeria flowers, hiking sticks and camera) taken by Pam Lorber.